The Medical Data Danger Zone: The Precarious Gap Between Detection And Intervention

Data is transforming the way in which healthcare is practiced. Now, more than ever, patients are “connected”—from the Internet, to social media, to bio-monitors. We now have the ability to obtain real time biometrics and take immediate action that can have real clinical impacts. At least sometimes...

By the year 2020, it is estimated that the total number of patients using “connected” home medical monitoring devices is expected to reach 19.1 million. This connectedness will allow physicians to make better, more individualized treatment decisions in real time. Ultimately this will improve outcomes and will likely help to curtail healthcare costs by preventing hospitalizations, improving compliance and avoiding complications.

However, much of the available data goes unused due to the fact that physicians and hospital systems have not yet figured out a way to quickly and easily handle and process large amounts of data in an accurate and efficient way. Mainstream medicine has been slow to accept the power of the digital space—the use of machine learning and artificial intelligence for healthcare data management is just now being considered. Partners in the tech industry such as IBM’s Watson have been pushing for integration in medicine for decades. The problem is that doctors tend to maintain a separate orbit from advancing technologies. What results is a tangible disconnect between actionable data and clinical practice. Often times, this is a function of data volume and the practical aspects on analysis and interpretation. And this is often the big concern—a high volume of data that showers down on a practice. But another major concern—that often remains even after proper data and clinical analysis—is the timely reporting of a life threatening event that has been detected by a device.

The result is a medical danger zone that lies between an event and necessary action, and, on occasion, these actions can be life saving.

An example of this medical danger zone is the implantable cardiac device. In the last decade, devices such as pacemakers, implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) and implantable loop recorders have become more technologically advanced. Each of these devices is now capable of collecting and transmitting hundreds of terabytes of data each year. Currently these data—entering observations into electronic medical records and pushing paper, is largely processed by humans. Even at the best institutions, the process lags days to months behind the real time downloads.

A new solution can now offer critical alerts in a shorter time window that potentially can save lives. PaceMate offers a practical solution to this problem by providing real-time processing of data from cardiac devices and provides prompt notifications to care providers. When a device transmits data to the manufacturer, PaceMate’s software is able to download, interpret and process vital patient data within one hour. Using machine learning algorithms and advanced programming tools, PaceMate delivers important healthcare information directly to physicians who can act closer to real time to impact patient outcomes. Data from previous studies have indicated that remote monitoring can reduce mortality by nearly 50% and significantly decrease hospitalizations.

We understand the time-sensitivity of many clinical events from MI to stroke. For me, a sustained run of ventricular tachycardia is a tremendous warning sign that demands immediate action. My patients and I can't wait a few days to let a sluggish paper trail catch up to my clinical needs. —Kevin Campbell MD, Cardiologist and CEO, PaceMate

It's clear that big data, monitoring, and analytics are changing the game in clinical medicine. Further, the well-established role of implantable devices is building the basis for extensive device monitoring and interrogation. As life saving as these devices can be, the lag between event and intervention can remain a vulnerable period for patients. It's time to close that gap and allow technology to realize the promise of "real time" alerts that save time, save lives and offer a practical solution for today's busy clinician.

Follow me @JohnNosta for an enlightening and unexpected view of the future.

I am the Founder of NOSTALAB -- a leading digital health think tank providing business and marketing insights to help the life science industry navigate the complex aspects of innovation in the context of exponential change. I help define, dissect and deliberate global tre...